Past Players and official Profile: Mark Kelly

Mark Kelly was elected to the position of President of the West Adelaide Football Club (WAFC) in 1976 where, at the age of 28, he became the youngest person in the history of the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) to hold such a position.

Mark was born at Calvary Hospital North Adelaide on 11^th March, 1947, the son of Brian and Mary Kelly, who lived at St Georges in suburban Adelaide. Brian was a sales representative for South Australian Gas Company, and Mary had been secretary to the general manager of SA Railways before they married. Today, Mark’s family consists of his wife, Lola, his son Ben and daughter, Naomi.

Mark spent his entire junior and senior education at St Ignatius College. At school he played football and tennis, and was captain of the tennis team at college. He was also involved in athletics where he specialised in 800 metres. His family were staunch Sturt supporters, but as a youngster, Mark’s SANFL idol was Glynn Williams, so he began to take an interest in West Adelaide.

He went on to Adelaide University to study Law, and was admitted to the Bar in 1971, from whence he joined Newman, Page and Co., where he stayed until 1975. During this period he played football with Burnside in the Adelaide Metropolitan League.

Mark first joined the WAFC in 1969 as a member of the WAFC Seconds committee, serving with club identities, WAFC champion, Jeff Bray (Seconds coach who was still playing league football for WAFC), Barrie Downs, and former WAFC champion Ken Eglinton.

Mark stepped back from West Adelaide in 1971-72 due to family issues.

In 1973 Mark was approached to take on the role of honorary solicitor for WAFC, assisting former WAFC player, Darcy Stratford. As Darcy gradually reduced his role Mark assumed greater responsibility.

In 1975 Mark was elected to a the WAFC League committee, serving with Ken Eustice (President), Oberon Pirak (Secretary), and committeemen, Lou Ravesi, Doug Thomas, Barry Pridham, Tom Kinnear, Dr Jack Rogers and Peter Tyner.

Fos Williams was WAFC coach at the time with the club finishing in 6^th position on the SANFL Premiership table.

In the same year, 1975, Mark joined a newly formed legal entity, Page, Jeffreson and Kelly, as a partner.

Elected President of WAFC in 1976

When Ken Eustice resigned at the beginning of the 1976 SANFL season, Mark was appointed President of the WAFC, defeating Lou Ravesi for the position. As previously mentioned, Mark was the youngest person to hold such an important position in the history of the SANFL.

When Mark took on the presidency of WAFC, the club was experiencing difficulties on and off the field, so he set about improving the financial position, and the team performances on-field. Under Mark’s guidance, the club returned to profit within 12 months, and showed a slight improvement in SANFL rankings, finishing 5^th on the SANFL Premiership table, one position up from the previous year. The on-field improvement was to come the next year.

Mark was also Vice-president of the West Adelaide Footballers Club and continued in the role of club solicitor whilst also undertaking player advocacy at the SANFL tribunal hearings.

Saving West Adelaide from oblivion.

One of the most important roles Mark undertook at West Adelaide was saving the club from oblivion or amalgamation during 1975-76, when the SANFL Management Committee was looking at reducing the number of teams in the SANFL competition. The SANFL Management Committee was controlled by four of the stronger SANFL clubs, Port, Norwood, Sturt and Glenelg, who it appeared, had little compunction in keeping the lesser successful and poorer financial SANFL clubs in the League competition.

Mark took a stand against this intimidation, and in his words, stated, “I was not prepared for the history of West Adelaide to be consigned to a dim and distant past and for champions to be forgotten.” Mark and WAFC general manager, Doug Thomas, formulated a plan to counter the SANFL power brokers. Mark praised Doug Thomas for his efforts to save West Adelaide during this tumultuous time.

A luncheon meeting was arranged with presidents and general managers of the so-called lesser clubs, where it was unanimously agreed that history and tradition were still extremely important within the SANFL and should not be discarded. An opportunity arose when Lou Ravesi, who had been appointed to fill a casual vacancy with the SANFL Management Committee, was up for election.

Mark had beaten Lou Ravesi for the position of President of WAFC earlier in the year, and Ravesi had subsequently resigned, before taking up the vacant position with the SANFL Management Committee. There was some concern at WAFC and the less powerful clubs that Lou Ravesi would not be supportive of West Adelaide, so Mark was nominated by the clubs to run against Ravesi for the vacant position. Mark was successful in filling the vacancy and immediately moved for a moratorium on the reduction of the number of teams in the SANFL. Mark recalled that it did not fit well with the powerful clubs, nor with the senior executives, but it saved WAFC, and within six years WAFC was to take out the SANFL premiership in 1983.

In 1977 Mark was WAFC President, and also the WAFC SANFL delegate. WAFC finished 3^rd on the SANFL Premiership table, still under league coach, Fos Williams.

1978

Mark resigned from WAFC in 1978 for family reasons, and in the same year established Mark Kelly and Co. In 1979 he was appointed a magistrate in the SA courts.

Mark was elected by the SANFL clubs to the SANFL Management Committee in 1980 as an independent representative.

In 1982 Mark became a partner in Ross, McCarthy and Norsworthy before they amalgamated with Phillips Fox, an international firm. (Mark remained with them until 2005, when he retired because of ill health.)

In 1983 Mark returned to WAFC as Chairman, serving until 1987 He enjoyed the 5 years on committee, especially as part of the 1983 SANFL Premiership under Neil Kerley (another of his childhood heroes) and working in close partnership with Bob Lee, the WAFC President.

Mark retired from WAFC in 1987 to pursue his love of horseracing and breeding. He sat on a number of company Boards, one of them as a representative in Australasia for the Deputy Ruler of Dubai who owned the Shadwell Racing Stud Australasia.

Mark treasured his time at West Adelaide and still enjoys catching up with past players and administrators.

Note*: Parts of this extract have been taken from Chris Collins’, “West Adelaide Football Club For the Record, interviews with Players and Officials of a bygone era.” The other parts of the article are from personal interviews with Mark Kelly by Hallett Shueard)